Smart Material Coupler

ABSTRACT

An apparatus is used to dissipate heat. The apparatus includes a heat sink, an electronic component, and a coupler. The coupler includes a smart material movable into an engaged position such as to be engaged with the heat sink to dissipate heat from the electronic component to the heat sink through the coupler.

BACKGROUND

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the presently described embodiments. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present embodiments. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.

In order to meet consumer and industrial demand for natural resources, companies often invest significant amounts of time and money searching for and extracting oil, natural gas, and other subterranean resources from the earth. Particularly, once a desired subterranean resource is discovered, drilling and production systems are often employed to access and extract the resource. These systems may be located onshore or offshore depending on the location of a desired resource. Further, such systems generally include a wellhead assembly through which the resource is extracted. These wellhead assemblies may include a wide variety of components, such as various casings, valves, fluid conduits, and the like, that control drilling or extraction operations.

More particularly, in most offshore drilling operations, a wellhead at the sea floor is positioned at the upper end of the subterranean wellbore lined with casing, a blowout preventer (BOP) stack is mounted to the wellhead, and a lower marine riser package (LMRP) is mounted to the BOP stack. The upper end of the LMRP typically includes a flex joint coupled to the lower end of a drilling riser that extends upward to a drilling vessel at the sea surface. A drill string is hung from the drilling vessel through the drilling riser, the LMRP, the BOP stack, and the wellhead into the wellbore.

During drilling operations, drilling fluid, or mud, is pumped from the sea surface down the drill string, and returns up the annulus around the drill string. In the event of a rapid invasion of formation fluid into the annulus, commonly known as a “kick”, the BOP stack and/or LMRP may actuate to help seal the annulus and control the fluid pressure in the wellbore. In particular, the BOP stack and LMRP include closure members, or cavities, designed to help seal the wellbore and mitigate the risk of high-pressure formation fluids being released from the wellbore.

For most subsea drilling operations, the BOP stack and LMRP are operated by one or more control units. The control units may be positioned subsea, such as along with the components of the BOP stack and/or the LMRP stack. However, as these control units may include electronic components, the operation of these components may generate heat that may affect performance or even lead to damage or failure of the control units. As such, measures may be taken to increase the reliability and use of electronic components, particularly in remote locations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of an offshore system for drilling and/or producing a wellbore in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of an apparatus to dissipate heat from an electronic component in a disengaged position in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of an apparatus to dissipate heat from an electronic component in an engaged position in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following discussion is directed to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The drawing figures are not necessarily to scale. Certain features of the embodiments may be shown exaggerated in scale or in somewhat schematic form and some details of conventional elements may not be shown in the interest of clarity and conciseness. Although one or more of these embodiments may be preferred, the embodiments disclosed should not be interpreted, or otherwise used, as limiting the scope of the disclosure, including the claims. It is to be fully recognized that the different teachings of the embodiments discussed below may be employed separately or in any suitable combination to produce desired results. In addition, one skilled in the art will understand that the following description has broad application, and the discussion of any embodiment is meant only to be exemplary of that embodiment, and not intended to intimate that the scope of the disclosure, including the claims, is limited to that embodiment.

Certain terms are used throughout the following description and claims to refer to particular features or components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, different persons may refer to the same feature or component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components or features that differ in name but are the same structure or function.

In the following discussion and in the claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “including, but not limited to . . . .” Also, the term “couple” or “couples” is intended to mean either an indirect or direct connection. In addition, the terms “axial” and “axially” generally mean along or parallel to a central axis (e.g., central axis of a body or a port), while the terms “radial” and “radially” generally mean perpendicular to the central axis. For instance, an axial distance refers to a distance measured along or parallel to the central axis, and a radial distance means a distance measured perpendicular to the central axis. The use of “top,” “bottom,” “above,” “below,” and variations of these terms is made for convenience, but does not require any particular orientation of the components.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a schematic view of an offshore system 10 for drilling and/or producing a wellbore 11 is shown. In this embodiment, the system 10 includes an offshore vessel or platform 20 at the sea surface 12 and a subsea BOP stack assembly 100 mounted to a wellhead 30 at the sea floor 13. The platform 20 is equipped with a derrick 21, and a tubular drilling riser 14 extends from platform 20 to the BOP stack assembly 100. During drilling operations, the riser 14 returns drilling fluid or mud to the platform 20. One or more hydraulic conduits 15 may extend along the outside of the riser 14 from the platform 20 to the BOP stack assembly 100. The conduits 15 supply pressurized hydraulic fluid to the assembly 100. Further, the casing 31 extends from the wellhead 30 into the subterranean wellbore 11.

Downhole operations are carried out by a tubular string 16 (e.g., drillstring, production tubing string, coiled tubing, etc.) that is supported by the derrick 21 and extends from the platform 20, through the riser 14, through the BOP stack assembly 100, and into the wellbore 11. A downhole tool 17 is connected to the lower end of the tubular string 16. In general, the downhole tool 17 may comprise any suitable downhole tool(s) for drilling, completing, evaluating and/or producing the wellbore 11 including, without limitation, drill bits, packers, cementing tools, casing or tubing running tools, testing equipment, perforating guns, and the like. During downhole operations, the string 16, and hence the tool 17 coupled thereto, may move axially, radially, and/or rotationally relative to the riser 14 and the BOP stack assembly 100.

The BOP stack assembly 100 is mounted to the wellhead 30 and is designed and configured to control and seal the wellbore 11, thereby containing the hydrocarbon fluids (liquids and gases) therein. In this embodiment, the BOP stack assembly 100 includes a lower marine riser package (LMRP) 110, a primary BOP or BOP stack 120, and a secondary BOP or BOP stack 150. The secondary BOP stack 150 serves as a backup to the primary BOP stack 120 and the LMRP 110 in the event the primary BOP stack 120 and/or the LMRP 110 fail, malfunction, or lose control communication with the vessel 20. Accordingly, the secondary BOP stack 150 may also be referred to as a backup BOP stack or a BOP stack of last resort.

In this embodiment, the connections between the wellhead 30, the secondary BOP stack 150, the primary BOP stack 120, and/or the LMRP 110 may include hydraulically actuated, mechanical wellhead-type connections 50, though any suitable connection may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The LMRP 110 may include a riser flex joint 111, a riser adapter 112, an annular BOP 113, and one or more control units or pods. A flow bore 115 extends through the LMRP 110 from the riser 14 at the upper end of the LMRP 110 to the connection 50 at the lower end of the LMRP 110. The flex joint 111 allows the riser adapter 112 and the riser 14 connected thereto to deflect angularly relative to the LMRP 110 while wellbore fluids flow from the wellbore 11 through the BOP stack assembly 100 into the riser 14. The annular BOP 113 includes an annular elastomeric sealing element that is mechanically squeezed radially inward to seal on a tubular extending through the LMRP 110 (e.g., string 16, casing, drillpipe, drill collar, etc.) or seal off the bore 115. Thus, the annular BOP 113 has the ability to seal on a variety of pipe sizes and/or profiles, as well as perform a “Complete Shut-off” (CSO) to seal the bore 115 when no tubular is extending therethrough.

A main bore 125 extends through the primary BOP stack 120 from the LMRP 110 at the upper end of the stack 120 to the backup BOP stack 150 at the lower end of the stack 120. A main bore 155 then extends through the secondary BOP stack 150 from the primary BOP stack 120 at the upper end of the stack 150 to the wellhead 30 at the lower end of the stack 150. In this embodiment, the secondary BOP stack 150 includes two ram BOPs 121, an upper ram BOP 121 including opposed blind shear rams or blades 121 a, and a lower ram BOP 121 including opposed blind shear rams or blades 121 a. In addition, the primary BOP stack 120 includes a plurality of axially stacked ram BOPs 121. Each ram BOP 121 includes a pair of opposed rams and a pair of actuators that actuate and drive the matching rams. In this embodiment, the primary BOP stack 120 includes four ram BOPs 121, an upper ram BOP 121 including opposed blind shear rams or blades 121 a for severing tubular string 16 and sealing off wellbore 11 from riser 14, and multiple lower ram BOPs 120 including opposed pipe rams 121 c for engaging the string 16 and sealing the annulus around the tubular string 16. One or more control units may then be used to operate one or more components of the LMRP 110, the primary BOP stack 120, and/or the secondary BOP stack 150, in which the control units may include one or more electronic components.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, multiple cross-sectional views of an apparatus 200 to dissipate heat from an electronic component 202 in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure are shown. In particular, FIG. 2 shows the apparatus 200 in a disengaged position, in which heat may not be dissipated from the electronic component 202 to a heat sink, and FIG. 3 shows the apparatus in an engaged position, in which heat may be dissipated from the electronic component 202 to the heat sink. For example, as discussed more below, heat may be dissipated from the electronic component 202, through a coupler 206, and to a housing 204 (e.g., heat sink), thus coupling the electronic component 202 to atmospheric conditions through the housing 204 (e.g., subsea conditions). Further, FIGS. 2 and 3 each provide a centerline extending therethrough for purposes of convenience and simplicity.

The apparatus 200 includes a heat sink, such as the housing 204, with the electronic component 202 positioned adjacent the heat sink. For example, the electronic component may be positioned within or adjacent the housing 204. Further, the coupler 206 is coupled to the electronic component 202, either directly, or indirectly as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The coupler 206 is movable into engagement, such as between the disengaged position in FIG. 2 and the engaged position in FIG. 3, to dissipate heat from the electronic component 202, through the coupler 206, and to the heat sink (e.g., housing 204). The heat sink may be at a temperature that is lower than that of the electronic component 202, particularly when the electronic component 202 receives power thereto and/or is in operation, and therefore heat dissipates from the electronic component 202 to the heat sink through the coupler 206. For example, the housing 204 may be positioned subsea, such as by including the housing 204 within one or more of the components discussed above (e.g., control units for the LMRP 110, the primary BOP stack 120, and/or the secondary BOP stack 150 in FIG. 1, in addition to subsea processing and/or subsea production components). This may expose the exterior of the housing 204 to a subsea environment. As the housing 204 may be exposed to a subsea environment, the seawater in contact with the housing 204 may be colder than that of the electronic component 202, particularly during operation, thereby enabling the housing 204 to act as a heat sink to dissipate heat from the electronic component to the housing 204 through the coupler 206.

The coupler 206 includes and/or is formed of one or more smart materials. A smart material is a programmable material and/or a designed material with one or more properties that can be changed in a controlled manner by external stimuli, such as stress, temperature, moisture, pH, electric or magnetic fields. For example, a smart material may include a shape memory material and/or shape memory technology. In one embodiment, a smart material may include a piezoelectric material that may produce a stress when voltage is applied thereto, and/or vice-versa. In such an embodiment, the piezoelectric material is able to bend, expand, and/or contract when a voltage is applied thereto. In another embodiment, a smart material may include a temperature-dependent shape-memory material that produces a stress when it undergoes a temperature change. In such an embodiment, a temperature-dependent shape-memory material is able to bend, expand, and/or contract when it undergoes a temperature change. In yet another embodiment, a smart material may include a magnetic-dependent shape-memory material that produces a stress when under the influence of a magnetic field and/or is exposed to a change in a magnetic field, and/or vice-versa. In such an embodiment, a magnetic-dependent shape-memory material is able to bend, expand, and/or contract when under the influence of a magnetic field and/or change in a magnetic field.

Continuing, in another embodiment, a smart material may include an electric-dependent shape-memory material that produces a stress when under the influence of an applied electric field and/or applied voltage or current. In such an embodiment, an electric-dependent shape-memory material is able to bend, expand, and/or contract when under the influence of the applied electric field and/or voltage or current. In yet another embodiment, a smart material may include a pH-dependent shape-memory material that produces a stress when it undergoes a pH change and/or under the influence of a certain or predetermined amount of pH. In such an embodiment, a pH-dependent shape-memory material is able to bend, expand, and/or contract when a pH change is applied thereto and/or under the influence of a certain or predetermined amount of pH. Further, in yet another embodiment, a smart material may include a moisture-dependent shape-memory material that produces a stress when it experiences a moisture change and/or is under the influence of a certain or predetermined amount of moisture. In such an embodiment, a moisture-dependent shape-memory material is able to bend, expand, and/or contract when subjected to the moisture change and/or the certain or predetermined amount of moisture.

The stress discussed above, such as a change when a smart material bends, expands, and/or contracts, may either be temporary and/or permanent. In an embodiment in which the stress or change is temporary, the smart material may retract back to an original form once no longer under the influence from the external stimuli. In an embodiment in which the stress or change is permanent, the smart material may not retract back to the original form and may remain in the stressed or changed state even once no longer under the influence from the external stimuli. Further, those having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that one or more other types of smart materials may be used within the scope of the present disclosure, though not specifically discussed above.

The apparatus 200 optionally further includes a heat path component and/or chassis 208. The chassis 208 is positioned within the housing 204, and more particularly, is positioned and/or attached between the electronic component 202 and the coupler 206. The chassis 208 facilitates the transfer of heat from the electronic component 202 to the coupler 206. Further, in one or more embodiments, a controller 210 may be included within the housing 204, such as positioned on and/or attached to the coupler 206. The controller 210 controls the coupler 206 to facilitate movement of the coupler in a more predictable fashion. This can be helpful when the environment and the stimuli affecting the coupler 206 are unpredictable, uncontrollable, and/or outside of a predetermined range for the stimuli. As such, the controller 210 may be used similar to a filter, thereby reducing the external stimuli noise received by the coupler 206 such that the coupler 206 is controlled by the controller 210 and responds to ranges of stimuli as required by the controller 210.

As discussed above, the coupler 206 includes or is formed from one or more smart materials. In an embodiment in which the coupler 206 includes a piezoelectric material or an electric-dependent shape-memory material, the coupler 206 can change shape (e.g., bend, expand, and/or contract) when under the influence of a voltage and/or a current. For example, in one embodiment, the coupler 206 changes shape when the electronic component 202 receives power (e.g., a voltage and/or current). A portion of the power may be redirected to the coupler 206, such as through the electronic component 202, such that the coupler 206 receives power at the same time the electronic component 202 receives power. Once the electronic component 202, and therefore the coupler 206, receives power, the coupler 206 may move from the disengaged position in FIG. 2 to the engaged position in FIG. 3. Thus, when the electronic component 202 is receiving power and is generating heat from use, the coupler 206 is in the engaged position to dissipate heat from the electronic component 202 to the housing 204 through the coupler 206. The coupler 206 may also be movable into the engaged position with the housing 204 without any type of manual engagement with the coupler 206 (e.g., no mechanical device interaction). The coupler 206 may instead automatically move from the disengaged position into the engaged position when power is received by coupler 206.

In one or more embodiments, the coupler 206 moves from the disengaged position to the engaged position once the external stimuli is above a threshold or predetermined amount. For example, in an embodiment in which the coupler 206 includes a piezoelectric material or an electric-dependent shape-memory material, the coupler 206 moves from the disengaged position to the engaged position when a voltage and/or a current above a predetermined amount is received by the electronic component 202 and/or the coupler 206. In an embodiment in which the coupler 206 includes and/or is formed from a temperature-dependent shape-memory material, the coupler 206 moves from the disengaged position to the engaged position when a temperature above a predetermined amount is received by the electronic component 202 and/or the coupler 206. Those having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that this rationale may apply to other types of smart materials as well.

Referring still to FIGS. 2 and 3, when in the disengaged position, there is a gap between the coupler 206 and the housing 204. Not being in contact facilitates assembly/disassembly of the apparatus 200. Once assembled, the coupler 206 may then be operated to engage the housing 204 in the engaged position. The housing 204 and/or the coupler 206 may include one or more flat surfaces and/or one or more curved surfaces. As such, in one embodiment, the housing 204 and the coupler 206 may each include a radius. For example, the housing 204 may be cylindrical, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the coupler 206 may include at least a portion that may be an arc or a curve. As such, the radius of the coupler 206 changes when the smart material of the coupler 206 experiences external stimuli. In particular, the radius of the coupler 206 may be smaller than the radius of the housing 204 when the coupler 206 is in the disengaged position (e.g., the electronic component 202 and/or the coupler 206 does not receive power in the embodiment above). Then, the radius of the coupler 206 may be larger than the radius of the housing 204 to move the coupler 206 into the engaged position (e.g., the electronic component 202 and/or the coupler 206 receives power in the embodiment above).

The present disclosure, while discussed in relation to the use with oil and gas equipment, is not so limited. For example, an apparatus and/or system in accordance with the present disclosure may be used with other types of equipment in which heat dissipation may be needed, such as any other type of equipment or component that includes an electronic component. Further, other subsea applications may include marine renewables and underwater exploration and mining, in addition to other subsea applications that include the use of subsea components. Accordingly, the present disclosure is not limited to only the above figures and descriptions shown above.

While the aspects of the present disclosure may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and have been described in detail herein. But it should be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus to dissipate heat, the apparatus comprising: a heat sink; an electronic component; and a coupler comprising a smart material movable into an engaged position such as to be engaged with the heat sink to dissipate heat from the electronic component to the heat sink through the coupler.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the coupler is movable into the engaged position when the electronic component receives power.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein power is received by the coupler when power is received by the electronic component to be movable into the engaged position.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the coupler is movable between the engaged position and a disengaged position such as to not be engaged with the heat sink, the coupler is movable to the engaged position when power is received by the electronic component, and the coupler is movable to the disengaged position when power is not received by the electronic component.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the coupler is movable to the engaged position when a voltage or a current above a predetermined amount is received by the coupler.
 6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the coupler is movable to the engaged position when temperature above a predetermined amount is sensed by the coupler.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the heat sink comprises a housing, and wherein the electronic component is positioned within the housing.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein: the housing comprises a housing radius, the coupler comprises a coupler radius, the coupler radius is larger than the housing radius when power is received by the electronic component, and the coupler radius is smaller than the housing radius when power is not received by the electronic component.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the smart material comprises at least one of a piezoelectric material, a temperature-dependent shape-memory material, a stress-dependent shape-memory material, a magnetic-dependent shape-memory material, an electric-dependent shape-memory material, a pH-dependent material, and a moisture-dependent shape-memory material.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a chassis positioned between the electronic component and the coupler.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a controller coupled to the coupler.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a subsea component.
 13. A subsea apparatus to dissipate heat, the apparatus comprising: a subsea heat sink; an electronic component; and a coupler comprising a smart material movable between an engaged position such as to be engaged with the subsea heat sink to dissipate heat from the electronic component to the subsea housing through the coupler when in the engaged position and a disengaged position such as to not be engaged with the subsea heat sink.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the coupler is movable to the engaged position when power is received by the electronic component, and wherein the coupler is movable to the disengaged position when power is not received by the electronic component.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein power is received by the coupler when power is received by the electronic component to be movable into the engaged position, and wherein power is not received by the coupler when power is not received by the electronic component to be movable into the disengaged position.
 16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the coupler is movable to the engaged position when a voltage or a current above a predetermined amount is received by the coupler.
 17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the coupler is movable to the engaged position when temperature above a predetermined amount is sensed by the coupler.
 18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein: the subsea heat sink comprises a subsea housing; the electronic component is positioned within the subsea housing; the subsea housing comprises a housing radius, the coupler comprises a coupler radius, the coupler radius is larger than the housing radius when the coupler is in the engaged position, and the coupler radius is smaller than the housing radius when the coupler is in the disengaged position.
 19. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the smart material comprises at least one of a piezoelectric material, a temperature-dependent shape-memory material, a stress-dependent shape-memory material, a magnetic-dependent shape-memory material, an electric-dependent shape-memory material, a pH-dependent material, and a moisture-dependent shape-memory material.
 20. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising: a chassis positioned between the electronic component and the coupler; and a controller coupled to the coupler.
 21. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the subsea heat sink comprises a component in the oil and gas industry. 